Mr Biden said the U.S. was going to work with the parties in Afghanistan as well as other countries to support a negotiated solution to end the violence
With U.S. troops almost completely out of Afghanistan and the Taliban making rapid territorial gains in the country, U.S. President Joe Biden said that the U.S. was not in Afghanistan for nation-building purposes and that it was for the Afghans to decide their future. Mr. Biden also said that the U.S. military mission would conclude by August 31.
The manner and speed with which the U.S. military is pulling out after a twenty year presence in the country has been criticized.
“Let me ask those who want us to stay: How many more?” Mr. Biden said on Thursday. “How many thousands more American daughters and sons are you willing to risk?
The manner and speed with which the U.S. military is pulling out after a twenty year presence in the country has been criticized
To those who had worked with the U.S. side in Afghanistan, such as drivers and translators and their families, Mr. Biden said, “There is a home for you in the United States, if you so choose. And we will stand with you, just as you stood with us.”
Mr. Biden said the U.S. was going to work with the parties in Afghanistan as well as other countries to support a negotiated solution to end the violence.
Asked if a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was inevitable, Mr. Biden answered in the negative, pointing to the relative strength of the Afghan forces in terms of troop numbers, training and equipment.
When asked what level of confidence the intelligence community has that the Afghan government would not collapse, Mr. Biden said that while Afghan leadership and government have the capacity, the forces and the equipment to sustain the government in place , whether they could generate the cohesion to continue was in question.
